FINIS.

Genus irritabile Vatum.

But I please my self with the Reflection, that I have not mingled the least Spice of Malice in the Composition, as it relates to Criticism, and am so far from being vain and arrogant, that I frequently and sincerely declare, my chief Design was to excite some more capable Writer to do what I knew my self uncapable of; and if any such Person shall, by exposing my Errours, give the World a true Light, I will not only gratefully follow it, but rejoyce at it, and take hold or the Opportunity to have my Share of the Instruction, if it comes from clean Hands, and is not defil'd with ill Manners and ill Language: Such tutoring I shall despise, and it being very common for Authors to have as good an Opinion of themselves as of any Body else, I shall not think any Name of Authority enough to justify either Insolence or Scurrility. About 40 Years ago there was a Student atOxford, who acquir'd a good Hand at a Fiddle; but, falling afterwards into Melancholy, he grew averse to Musick, and couldnot be prevail'd upon by his Friends to touch it: They had but one Way to excite him to it, and that was for some unskilful Hand to take his Violin and scrape upon it; he would then immediately snatch it away from him, and, in a Kind of Resentment, give it the utmost Elegance of Sound and Harmony. I freely own I had this Man's Example in my Head when I began this Essay, and should the Success be the same, the End of it is answer'd.

I cannot close this Essay without taking Notice of the Perverseness of Men, who pretend to Wit and Judgement, towards one another: It appears mostly in Pretenders, and is very well markt byBoileau, in these two Verses translated by Mr.Dennis, and equal to the Original:

Thus one Fool lolls his Tongue out at another,And shakes his empty Noddle at his Brother.

It was not so when Judgement and Wit were something more than Pretence only, when they were in the Heighth of Excellence, under the Patronage ofAugustus. My LordRoscommon, in his Preface toHorace's Art of Poetry writes thus:I am below the Envy of the Criticks, but if I durst, I would beg them to remember, thatHoraceow'd his Favour and his Fortune to the Character given of him byVirgilandVarius; thatFundaniusandPollioare still valued by whatHoracesay of them, and that in that Golden Age there was a good Understanding among the Ingenious; and those who were the most esteem'd were the best natur'd.Drydenhas made the same Observation:Certainly, the Poets ofOvid's Age enjoy'd much Happiness in the Conversation and Friendship of one another.The antient Criticks, says theSpectator,are full of the Praises of their Contemporaries. They discover Beauties which escap'd the Observation of the Vulgar, and very often find out Reasons for palliating and excusing such Slips and Oversights, as were committed in the Writings of eminent Authors.Mr.Addisonhas imitated them in his Remarks uponMilton'sParadice Lost; but it must be allowed that the Task was made very easy, and the Beauties shine so brightly, that there's no taking one's Eye off of them. It has also been wish'd, that the two or three Slips in Expression which he quotes out ofMiltonhadbeen excused, as they might have been by observing, that if there's a Pun in theParadice Lost, 'tis the Devil that makes it.

One of the surest Signs, that the Wits of the past and present Age,EnglishandFrench, are not of the Size of those of the Age ofAugustus, is their Jealousies and Broils. TheSpectatorhas this Remark, No409;I cannot think, thatCorneille,Racine,Moliere,Boileau,La Fontaine,Bruyere,Bossu, or theDacier's, would have written so well as they did, had they not been Friends and Contemporaries.'Tis said very much in Favour of good Nature, and therefore is very agreeable: But I Question, whether Emulation, and sometimes even Resentment, may not produce very good Effects in the Works of the Ingenious.Facit Indignatio versus.Godeau,Vaugelas,Malherbe, were Men of great Merit; and so were also,Maynard,La Mothe Le Vayer, andCostar; yet they wrote against one another with some Acrimony.

'Tis Envy and Spleen, that produce a Set of Writers inEngland, call'dAnswerers, whose Modesty may be conceived by some of their Titles,The best Answer that ever was.Part 1st.The best Answer that ever was.Part the 2d.A better Answerthan thebest Answer. TheUnanswerable Answer, byLesleyand others. You can't publish aPamphletorEssay, but it is immediately snapt at to be answer'd: Nay, Dr.Halley's Calculation of the Eclipse in a Half-sheet had two or threepoliticalAnswers.

The Itch of Answering is so great, that some Authors have taken it in Dudgeon, not to have been thought worthy of an Answer; and to prevent such Disgrace a second Time, have written on Purpose that they might answer themselves. I have heard, that the learned and ingeniousRobinson Crusoeis in the Number of these.

How can it be expected, that Men of Passions, worldly Minds, and Lay-men should escape this Infection, when the Fathers themselves in the first Ages of theChurch, could not help writing against one another, with as much Sharpness as any modern Writers. St.Jerom, in Particular, is charg'd with this Weakness, in his Writings againstLactantius, St.Ambrose, St.Hilary,Didymus. 'Tis said, thathe spar'd neither Antients nor Moderns; no not the inspir'd Elders that translated the Septuagint: Himself having translated the Bible intoLatin, and heseem'd to be as fond of his Works as are other Translators.

Our Neighbours, theFrench, have not been altogether free from this Humour ofAnswering, or rather writing against one another; as will appear by the following List of a dozen Authors of a Side; most of them of theFrenchAcademy; and I might name as many more of equal Rank:

As the most delicate Praise is that which has theFaceof Satyr, so the most delicate Satyr is that which has the Face of Praise. Of the latter Kind are the Verses to the honourableEdward Howardon hisincomparableandincomprehensiblePlay. Those Verses were written by the Duke ofBuckingham, the LordDorset, Mr.Waller, and others. Of the former Kind are several ofVoiture's Letters to the Prince ofConde, andBoileau's to the Dukede Vivonnein Imitation of them. Indeed we must allow, that theFrenchdo understand theBelle Railleriebetter than we do, at least for the Generality, there being some Authors inEnglish, that have succeeded in fine Raillery as well as theFrench. Thus did ArchbishopTillotsontreatSergeantthePopishPriest: Thus BishopSprathandledSorbiere; and Dr.Burnetof the Charter-house treated oneWarrenwho had attack'd hisTheory. If our Answerers could write as they did, they would both divert and instruct us. But we have already explained what they mean by Raillery. They know not how to parry like good Fencers, and therefore knock down like Cudgel Players.

The last Word puts me in Mind of a lower Order of Criticks, which are rarely heard of within the Sound ofBow-Bell; and these are yourEtymologistsand yourOrthographists, who turn toRiderorHoly Oakfor the Derivation of Words, and have the learnedGarretsonand other Helps for Spelling: But I know not whether this Essay may travel far enough into the Country to be of any Use; and besides, I have not converst enough with those Criticks that deal in Words and Letters only, to be Master of the Subject, which is generally learn'd by such as make a Penny of it in Conversation by laying Wagers, the Power and Test of all rural Argument.

I must own theEtymologistsare by much the greater Men of the Two than theOrthographists. I do affirm this, not only because it is necessary to know the Roots of Languages, but because it is a greater Mark of Scholarship, and has the Sanction of the most learned Universities. The profoundest of our own Antiquaries have, in Favour of the University ofOxford, found out an Etymology, that may match with the famous One ofDiaper Napkin: From whence comes KingPepin. BishopStillingfleetinforms us, that the Champions for the Antiquity ofOxfordsay, that the old Name isBritish, and it is read somewhereIrenwhich should be readIcen, and that againYchen, and thatRydychen, andRydychenin theBritishTongue isVadum BouminLatin, and that inEnglish,Oxenford,Oxford, andOxon.Such wonderful Discoveries are made by the venerable Antiquaries.Irenruns the Gauntlet through three LanguagesIrish,Welsh, andLatin, before it drops intoEnglish, but considering there is moreGreekin theWelshTongue than there isLatin, it may make Work for great Scholars, to shew their Scholarship in settling the Matter as it should be with a Salvo for the Rights of the University ofCambridge.

The Learned inFrancehave an Etymology almost as good as that ofOxfordfromIren, which is the WordCemetierea Church-yard; They derive it from theLatinWordcumwith, andmittereto put, as much as to say the dead Bodies are put together in one burying Place. Thus the Boxes at theOperaare aCemetiereor Church-yard, because the Ladies and Gentlemen are put with one another there, and thus by Virtue of thesame Etymology, the Place where People are born and where they are bury'd are all one, fromCumwith, andMittereto put, as I have heard, that the same Word serves for Life and Death in one of the oriental Languages.

As toOrthography, the only Passage I have read in a polite Author concerning it is that ofBoileau, who taxesPerraultwith false Spelling, by putting ansin one Word, and leaving out ansin another. By putting ansinto the WordContemples, it lost the Imperative Mood which isContemple; and by leaving out ansin the WordCasuiste, writtenCasuite, it became no Word at all. When Moods and Tenses, Numbers and Cases, Substantives and Adjectives, suffer byOrthography, the curious Country-man has reason to cry out, otherwise the Printer may be answerable for the Spelling.

After all that has been said of theSublime, &c.perhaps the Criticks do make more of Things than is necessary, or in Nature: Tho' Poets pretend to Inspiration, and cry out,The god, the god, they are, in the Main, but meer Men, and have their Tricks and Quirks to keep up the Reputation of that Art: Nay, like other Professions, they would have us believe, that there's Mystery in it too; not, I suppose, as Divines understand it, but in the vulgar Sense, as it is understood when we say, the Trade or Mystery of aCordwainer. Some of these Poetical Mysteries are as follow.

We are told that this Verse ofHomer's ThirdIliadwas said, byAlexander the Great, to be the best in all the Poem:

Great in the Wars, and great in Arts of Sway.

Methinks ourGazetteMen, andCourantMen, express themselves every whit as well, when in Honour of a defunct General, whose Activity had long furnish'd them with Matter for their News-Books, they tell us, He was great alike in the Camp, and in the Cabinet, which easily runs into as good a Verse as the other.

Great in the Camp, and in the Cabinet.

The next best Verses that ever were, areBoileaus; and they were said to be the best in all his Works, byLaFontaine: The Subject is theFrenchKing's setting up Lace-making atRoan.

Et nos voisins frustrez de ces tributs serviles,Que paiat a leur Art, le Luxe de nos Villes.No more by foreign Tributes are we griev'd,Which, from our Luxury, alien Arts receiv'd.

Et nos voisins frustrez de ces tributs serviles,Que paiat a leur Art, le Luxe de nos Villes.

No more by foreign Tributes are we griev'd,Which, from our Luxury, alien Arts receiv'd.

Why these are better Verses than all other best Verses, is the Mystery we are speaking of, and like that of the Free-Masons, it cannot be unfolded but by a Brother; nay, one may suspect of this Mystery what is justly suspected of that; they do not tell it us, for fear we shou'd laugh at it.

Of this Kind, doubtless, is the famous Couplet, taken out of SirJohn Denham'sCoopers-Hill, whichDrydensays, are the two best Verses in theEnglishTongue:

Tho' Deep, yet clear; tho' Gentle, yet not dull;Strong without Rage, without o'erflowing full.

He said he would not reveal the Secret why they were the best Verses, but left it as a Riddle to Posterity. I dare say, there are a Thousand as good Verses in Mr.Pope'sHomer, if by good Verses he means smooth ones, and one would think Three such Monysyllables asYet,Not,Dull, all together, was enough to set aside the Claim of that Line.

Having said so much already of my honest Intention In thisEssay, I must, at last, refer it to the Judgement of the Reader, and whatever it is, shall receive it with Pleasure, when it is given with Candour.

If he approves of what I have said, I cannot but be pleased with having given some few Hints to another.

If he does not approve of it, 'twill please me still more to receive new Light my self.

Since this Essay was finish'd, I have seen a Book written by aFrenchGentleman, which has been receiv'd with much Civility; and as that Gentleman is commanded to make Remarks on our Manners inEngland, he will not do us Justice unless he puts the Reception his Book has met with, among the Instances of our Humanity to Strangers.

I must own I have not learnt a good deal by it, and the Reading of it has not excited any Impatience in meto read any newHeroickPoem. I have long despair'd to see another goodDramatick, and much more anEpickPoem inEnglish, and cannot hope now to see one inFrench, which never yet was seen: However, I wish so well to all such generous Enterprizes, that I think it barbarous to give them the least Discouragement.

My Objections to this Gentleman's Criticisms are for what he says too ill ofMilton's Poem, and too good ofClarendon's History, which he highly commends for the fine Characters, tho' he seems not to understand them, or not to have inform'd himself sufficiently of the Facts on which they are founded. He assures us the LordClarendonhasunravell'd all the Springs of the Civil Wars. I pass by the Expression tounravel a Spring, for that probably it sounds better in theFrenchIdiom than in theEnglish: But the Sense of it is not true in Fact.He has drawn, at full Length, the pictures of those whose Ambition shook the Foundation of his Country.He has drawn them at full Length indeed, but asMiltondrew his shadowy Beings,Death,Sin,Chaos, by the Extent of his Imagination, and with little Regard to Historical Likeness, or copying after Nature; his Pictures on the King's Side being to a Man, all so many Heroes; on that of the Parliament so manyScoundrels; which was impossible to be true: For, besides that it was not in the Course, so it was not in the Nature of the Thing, that so many heroical Persons should take Party for Oppression and Superstition, and so many Blockheads and Poltrons espouse the Cause of Religion and Liberty.

But I do not wonder that this Critick is so extreamly civil to the Author of theHistory of the Rebellion. He censuresMiltonfor drawing the Pictures ofDeathand theDevilwith so much Deformity.Satan,Sin, andDeath, must needsshock the Readers of a delicate Taste. As if it was possible for the Imagination to paint any Thing so ugly as the Devil is in every One's Conception, and that the more shocking such Painting is, it was not the more natural, as being the more conformable to the Idea which every one has conceiv'd of the Original. 'Tis true, theDevilandDeathare not Subjects to touch theDelicacyof Readers, but are extreamly proper to move Horrour and Detestation, which are there the Moral ofthat Divine Poem. If the Scene ofParadisewas opening, the Reader might have expected something to have touch'd hisDelicacy; but when he came, as inMilton, to the Gates of Hellwide open, he certainly should have left his Delicacy behind him.Hans Holben's Death's Dance is a merry Piece, but was no more proper to admit of Delicacy than the Droll Pieces ofHeemskirk; and it would not be more extravagant to put Perfumes among the Ingredients of aStink-Pot, than to put Delicacy in a Picture of the Devil. One of the most masterly Pieces of the greatest Matter of theLombardSchool, a Carcass on a Butcher's Stall with the Gutts and Garbage about it, was much admir'd by theItalians, whose Delicacy is exemplary to other Nations; whence one may conclude, that whatever Subject has Truth and Likeness in it according to Nature, or our Conception of it, will always please, as an exact: and lively Imitation. I shall take no more Notice of the Criticisms onMiltonin this Place, nor perhaps in any other; but I can never read the Remarks of the Criticks on theParadise Lost, without calling to Mind the Boast of KingAlphonso, who criticising on the Form of theCreation, said,If he had been consulted in it, it should have been more perfect.

The following printer's errors have been corrected:

Page ii. "What" changed to "Want" (not for Want of Will)"Maniere" changed to "Manière" (La Manière De Bien Penser)Page 2. "they they" changed to "they" ("for that they are put into Rhime")Page 3. "Aristtotle" changed to "Aristotle" (given byAristotle,Horace, &c.)Page 7. "Spectator" emphasized (TheSpectator, with all his Modesty)"parricularly" changed to "particularly" (and particularly how beautiful his Imagination was)"Spectator" emphasized (read in theSpectator, No291)Page 8. "Catherines" changed to "Catherine's" (her Husband atSt. Catherine's)Page 12. "Aristtotle" changed to "Aristotle" (We all knowAristotle)"Aristottle" changed to "Aristotle" (what will become ofAristotle)Page 16. "Spectator" emphasized (TheSpectatorgives us another Mark)"Spectator" emphasized (deprived theSpectatorhimself)Page 22. "Spectator" emphasized (theSpectatorhas entered a Caveat)"geat" changed to "great" (The great Creator from his Work returned)Page 23. "Spectator" emphasized (the Ode in theSpectator, No465)"Phæbus" changed to "Phœbus" (Phœbusis arriv'd)Page 28. "Spectator" emphasized (especially those Verses in theSpectator)Page 31. "Jove" emphasized (Thou once didst leave AlmightyJove,)"Spectator" emphasized (In theSpectator, No388)Page 32. "Agreeble" changed to "Agreeable" (Agreeable Thoughts may be also reckon'd)Page 33. "Spectator" emphasized (before theSpectatorwas thought of)Page 34. "Spectator" emphasized (because they are in theSpectator)"NoSidley" changed to "No[400.] Sidley" (missing number supplied)Page 39. "llght" changed to "light" (They light the Nuptial Torch)Page 40. "mady" changed to "many" (thegay, and many more)Page 41. "Cilenos" changed to "Cileno's" (There whereCileno's foul and loathsome Rout;)Page 42. "Which" changed to "Which" (Which /MedusawithGorgonianTerror)Page 44. "theSpectator" changed to "theSpectator" (Nay some, says theSpectator)"Stile" changed to "Stile." (the Puerile Stile.)"inftead" changed to "instead" (instead of dismaying the Combatants)Page 48. "mishapen" changed to "misshapen" (Purpose,misshapen,ill-favoured)"Interpretions" changed to "Interpretations" (two or three Interpretations only)Page 53. "Piso's" changed to "Piso's" (thePiso'swas written by Direction of the Academy)"aod" changed to "and" (with like Profit and Pleasure)"Ablancourt's Thucydides" changed to "Ablancourt'sThucydides"Page 54. "Du Ryer's Livy" changed to "Du Ryer'sLivy""Segrais Virgil" changed to "Seagrais'sVirgil"Page 56. "Pindars" changed to "Pindar's" (as good asPindar's orHorace's)Page 58. "Philosoper" changed to "Philosopher" (The PhilosopherSeneca's Works he pretended)Page 59. "Philip's" changed to "Philips's" (Mr.Philips's Poems, thesplendid ShillingandCyder)"Ariconian" emphasized (OfAriconianProducts)"Philps" changed to "Philips" (stile ofMiltonasPhilipshas done)Page 60. "ourtaking" changed to "our taking" (to what most of our taking Authors have been)Page 66. "Spectator" emphasized (theSpectatorhas disgraced the Use)Page 68. "Translator" changed to "Translation" and "Translation" changed to "Translator" (undertake a Translation with more Advantage than the last Translator)"no" changed to "to" (down toDacier)Page 69. "tonjours" changed to "toujours" (J'ay toujours fait beaucoup de cas)Page 73. "Spectator" emphasized (In theSpectator, No297. you read thus)Page 74. "goods" changed to "gods" (the Break,good gods!has more)"Spectator" emphasized (Which theSpectatorspeaks of as inexpressibly beautiful)"Spectator" emphasized (Laugh and Clap.Spectator, No39)"Bouhours" changed to "Bouhour's" (in one Verse in all FatherBouhour's)Page 75. "qnælibet" changed to "quælibet" (Et Vini bonitas, & quælibet altera Causa.)Page 76. "Whiston's" changed to "Whistons" (theWhistonsinto Mathematicks)Page 83. "suth" changed to "such" (such as thePort Royal)"Histories" emphasized (theGrand Rebellion, theHistories,&c.)Page 87. "hy" changed to "by" (very well markt byBoileau)"Spectator" changed to "Spectator" (The antient Criticks, says theSpectator)

The following errors were not corrected, as they likely reflect Oldmixon's own ignorance of Greek:

Page 22. "Γενέσθω" should be "Γενηθήτω"Page 68. "ὅς μαλα πλάγχθη" should be "ὅς μάλα πολλὰ πλάγχθη"

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